I think this is about day fifty or so of this crazy challenge and I am still early morning walking, mostly with my best friend for company.  Today was warm and sunny and the three miles or so flew by as we chatted and enjoyed the countryside.

The sunshine brings the best out in everyone.  My neighbours are all out and about and we chat on the front.  It is a smiley sort of a day.  More steps are added this afternoon, out in the sunshine with friends and later at home I decide to sit outside in the late afternoon warmth and read my book.

As I am sitting down my neighbours have a visitor, a woman who I have known for some time, and as she leaves their house she walks around to where I am sitting. We are talking over the wall, about mutual friends, about politics and life.  She mentions that I have lost some weight and asks about my walking.  She explains that a mutual friend had been telling her all about me!!

She tells me she needs to lose weight and get fit.  She asks my advice! Seriously, I couldn’t make this up.  From couch potato to fitness guru in three months, me, really??  I encourage her as best I can.  She says she can’t walk far or fast, join the club I tell her.  I explain about how I started walking the field, and then the road, and now thousands of steps a day.  I offer to walk with her. She says she would like that.

So, here I am in my living room this evening, about to add today’s 16,700 odd steps to the Diabetes UK page, and wondering how all this happened?  From nothing and nowhere I have managed to walk myself to health and along the way have brought others with me.  We have a Facebook group with almost forty members, all encouraging and supporting each other.  I have lots of followers on my blog and lots of people donating  money and expressing interest in the Million Step Challenge.

I don’t know who dreamt this up, but it is genius.  I just have to find a new challenge for when this is over.  I have some ideas.